Govt to re-impose duty

Doulot Akter Mala The government has decided to re-introduce specific duty on import of refined sugar in an effort to safeguard local industries and recoup revenue loss. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently received an instruction of the finance minister to re-introduce Tk 2,000 per tonne duty on import of refined sugar. The NBR has sent a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) in this regard for vetting of law ministry, and is likely to issue the SRO within a few days to introduce the tax. The latest move came following proposals of the commerce and industry ministries to impose the duty for protecting local sugar industry. Last month the commerce secretary in a letter urged the NBR to set separate duty structure for raw and refined sugar to help local refiners. He also requested the NBR to re-impose specific duty on import of refined sugar. Following the request, the NBR sent three proposals to the finance minister for his consent. The proposals included imposition of Tk 500 per tonne duty on import of raw sugar and Tk 2,000 on refined sugar, or Tk 2,000 on both raw and refined sugar or only on refined sugar. The finance minister Monday gave his opinion preferring imposition of Tk 2,000 specific duty on import of refined sugar. Earlier, the NBR imposed Tk 2,000 per tonne duty on import of raw sugar and Tk 4,000 on refined sugar in the budget for the fiscal year 2010-11. The revenue board withdrew duty on import of refined sugar in March when sugar prices were volatile in the local market. Sugar was one of the major revenue earning sectors, as it earlier contributed nearly Tk 4.0 billion revenue per year to the public exchequer.